Starkville

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Oktibbeha County, the county that contains Starkville.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

The drought index is for Oktibbeha County, the county that contains Starkville.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 29, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Oktibbeha$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Katrina will likely go down as the worst and costliest natural disaster in United States history. The amount of destruction, the cost of damaged property/agriculture and the large loss of life across the affected region has been overwhelming. Catastrophic damage was widespread across a large portion of the Gulf Coast region. The devastation was not only confined to the coastal region, widespread and significant damage occurred well inland up to the Hattiesburg area and northward past Interstate 20. This hurricane has changed life as we know it across the Gulf Coast region which will take many years to return to normal.Hurricane Katrina was a very large and powerful storm…

2. Feb 16, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major derecho storm moved northeastward across the county from Sturgis to Longview to Starkville. The storm caused thousands of trees to be blown down, and numerous homes received damage from the wind and from large trees that landed on the homes. The Mississippi State University campus in Starkville had an estimated $6 million in damage. Damage to power lines and transformers was estimated to be around $300,000 in the county. Across the county, 24 houses and 22 mobile homes were destroyed, 147 houses and 32 mobile homes sustained major damage, and 655 houses and 55 mobile homes received minor damage. Additionally, 74 apartment units in Starkville were destroyed, 101 units…

3. Jan 1, 2011Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began near the south side of the Starkville Airport. As the tornado moved along Miley and Industrial Park Roads, it downed several trees, peeled back the roof and blew in the overhead door on a metal commercial building, and pushed over a semi-trailer. The tornado then crossed the Starkville Sportsplex, blowing over a number of soccer goals and dugouts, and damaging some fencing. The tornado then moved across a couple of apartment complexes along Lynn Lane, where it did its most intense damage. It removed the entire roofing structure of one apartment building, and blew the facade off another building. A number of apartment buildings suffered shingle or fascia damage.…

4. Sep 25, 2005Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down on the southeast side of Starkville, just southwest of the MSU Campus, in the Sherwood Forest subdivision and tracked northeast for 3.5 miles through the MSU Campus then dissipated at Highway 82.The Sherwood Forest subdivision had several trees uprooted and about 5 homes with shingle damage. The tornado then moved across an open field toward the MSU Campus. The MSU Seed Technology Building sustained major damage to most of the metal/tin structures. A RV was rolled over at this location. The rest of the campus sustained broken windows, downed trees and roof damage to several buildings. The tornado exited MSU Campus and continued northeast. For the last…

5. May 8, 2025Hail$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense supercell storm produced a swath of significant hail across the north side of Starkville. Hail size ranged from ping pong ball size to 2.25 inches diameter. This hail damaged homes and vehicles along with the stripping of foliage along a portion Highway 82 and near Reed and Garrard roads to where MS State Highway 182 intersects Highway 12 and 82. In the Clayton Village area the hail damaged roofs, broke windows, smashed car windows, and cracked car headlights.

6. May 8, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of 60-75 mph winds occurred on the flank of an intense supercell as it moved across the norther side of Starkville. Numerous trees were uprooted or had portions snapped or limbs broken off. A large section of a roof was blown off a home. Several trees were down on homes along with single and other minor roof damage to apartment complexes. Tree damage lessened east of town but remained intermittent along Old Highway 82 E.

7. Nov 29, 2010Tornado$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Initial damage was roof and siding damage to a church along Lynn Lane. The tornado then moved northeast through an area of apartment buildings, causing minor to moderate roof damage to a number of buildings, as well as downing several trees. The tornado then moved into the Pines Trailer Park, where it destroyed a number of mobile homes. Two large mobile homes were rolled and destroyed, and several mobile homes were moved a substantial distance and destroyed. Numerous large pine trees were snapped near the base, with several landing on mobile homes causing major damage. Numerous utility lines were snapped and downed, and a couple of poles were downed. This was the location of…

8. Dec 23, 1998Ice Storm, Oktibbeha$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A crippling ice storm struck the three state region of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi at one of the worst times, just before Christmas. Much of the fall and early winter season of late 1998 had been very mild for southerners. But on Tuesday December 22nd, a strong surge of shallow Arctic air drove southward and spelled a quick end to the unseasonable warmth and helped set the stage for one of winter's nasty tricks. A moist southwest flow above the cold air brought several upper level disturbances. This combination of cold air and moisture held together for several days and brought periods of freezing rain and sleet to the three state region, beginning tuesday night and not…

9. Apr 20, 2011Flash Flood$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several inches of heavy rain caused flash flooding across Starkville. Several homes were flooded and multiple vehicles were submerged due to high water.

10. Apr 24, 2010Tornado$650,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    One mobile home was destroyed and 20 homes were damaged along Sun Creek and Mitchell roads. Three power poles were snapped along with numerous trees snapped and uprooted. A barn was also damaged along the path. Maximum winds were around 115 mph.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

111°FJul 29, 1930

All-time low

−12°FFeb 13, 1899

Warmest night

88°FJul 2, 1897

Coldest day

10°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

8.28 inFeb 28, 2009

Snowiest day

10.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 13, 1960

Hottest year

1933mean 67.4°F

Coldest year

1968mean 60.1°F

Wettest year

201989.55 in

Driest year

194230.75 in

Station State University (USC00228374), 185 ft elevation, 2.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1891 to October 28, 2026; 92.1% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Oktibbeha County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00228374.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.